scottystitch

That's an interesting price for the Day at the Races set.........assuming it is correct.

On first impressions, this looks fantastic. A little railway empire, this is going to be epic. Please, do continue! Again at first glance, does Difford Junction perhaps look a bit grand for a light railway single track junction station? Not a criticism, just an observation......... Ignore that, I see it's the only true passing station on the line and does serve the harbour branch. As you were. Topic Followed Best Scott

This is starting to really look the part. The viaduct is shaping up nicely. Well done re the signals, and long may your progress continue in this fashion. As always, thanks for sharing.

Further to this helpful comment, and following further research, I've added red to the livery list. Larkin's "Civil Engineers Wagons - Volume 1" has images of DB992661 and DB983728 in "Indian Red" and also suggests that all of lot 3331 may have been delivered in red, although he doesn't elaborate on any tangible evidence for that.

Excellent progress, Anthony; always a pleasure to see that you have posted . The mountain with the bus looks spectacularly imposing! Impressive stuff indeed. Best Scott

It most certainly isn't wishlist. I have had conversations with Revolution, Mike in particular, and having a wee bit of experience with regards pitching new model ideas to them (NBL Type 2 Cl 21/29, 35T Class B, Cemflo), I'm aware that it can be useful for them to see a poll such as this. As stated above this posting has their blessing. Mike has expressed his enthusiasm on the NGF thread and I'm confident that, if the N community can show that the numbers are there, whilst there are no guarantees in life, there is a genuine possibility of this appearing.

Hi Phil, thanks for your comment. I was basing my statement on this quote from Joel on the Dapol Digest in May 2017. The exchange rate has improved, but probably not by enough? Perhaps my choice of the word "again" was ill advised, in retrospect....... "Joel Dapol commented 3rd May 2017, 09:06 The problem is that I had a look at he costs of producing another run of Dogfish a few months ago and they were really expensive with the exchange at £1 = £1.23. It may be something we can look at if the pound gets nearer to US$1.40 but until then it would be too risky and expensive for us :-(" . Original thread here: https://digest.Dapol.co.uk/forum/n-gauge-models/freight-stock-aa/br-departmental-stock/2336-catfish-wagons

I think you'd always want to have the best model you could, so I'd be looking for something as detailed as the 35T Class B tanks and the forthcoming Sonic VEA Dapol have said they wouldn't consider producing the Dogfish again, with assembly costs as they are, so it might leave the Dogfish open for a new model from someone else if the Catfish sells.

This post mirrors a similar one placed on N Gauge Forum and is designed to provide Revolution Trains with an indication of the popularity and potential market for a Catfish Engineers' wagon, built to similar standards as their 35T Class B tank wagon, in N Gauge. Whilst I have had relevant and meaningful conversations with Revolutions' principals about a potential model, this post and poll is all off my own back and so any errors are my own. Brief description/history After building several designs of small ballast hoppers in its early years, BR settled on the 19-ton ‘Catfish’ and 24-ton ‘Dogfish’ from 1955 onwards for its fleet of PW engineering hoppers in that size range. The first of these to appear was a batch of Catfish built by Metro-Cammell to lot number 2682. These are sometimes quoted as being built in 1953 but this is most likely the lot issue date, whilst actual construction took place in 1955. Built to diagram 1/586, the Catfish had a shallow but fairly conventional looking hopper with a single chute discharging between the rails, unlike the later, and larger capacity, Dogfish which released it's load either side of the "four foot". At one end of the 14ft wheelbase wagon was a platform with a single door control wheel, the vacuum cylinder being mounted at the opposite end. Over the subsequent six years, a further five lots were built, all by Metro-Cammell and all to the same diagram number, although later deliveries had roller bearings (instead of plain) and Oleo buffers (instead of the self-contained type). Wagons that were overhauled or repaired would also have been upgraded in the same way. Livery was initially black, Indian (or Gulf ?) Red, evolving to olive drab and finally grey with a yellow top band (“dutch”). Under TOPS these wagons were coded ZEV-A with design codes ZE500A-C being issued to cover minor differences Out-with those mentioned above, the Catfish underwent very few changes during their long careers. In the early 1990s at least four Catfish were recoded ZSV (design codes ZS152A/B) although the reason for this is not known (the ZSx code covers types such as crane runners, match wagons and brake force vehicles.) By 1999 there were still 289 ZEVs listed on TOPS, although by this date Catfish were all either withdrawn or in ”no maintenance” pool use. In 2001 the numbers in stock had dropped to 63 ZEV (all stored). Diagram D1/586: 1955: Lot 2682/3 DB992531 - 650 Lot 2775 DB992651-710 1958: Lot 2929 DB993508 - 566 236 Built (These were all built with oil axle-boxes & self-contained buffers) 1960/61: Lots 3039/3331 (DB983376, 576/627 - 896) 471 built These had Oleo buffers & roller bearings. By my reckoning a total of 707 were built Catfish were originally allocated to the LMR, but from the late 60s spread onto the ScR & ER. Some were loaned to the SR in the 70s. Catfish worked with most other types of ballast hoppers, but were rarely seen in SR and WR areas. Pros - Numerous examples produced, with minimal differences between batches - Four official liveries - Appropriate for layouts set from BR Early Crest through to late 90's post-privatisation - Very suitable for preserved railway layouts - Would compliment Dapol's Dogfish, NGS' Seacow, Revolution Sturgeon, DJM's Mermaid, NGS'/DJM's Shark (particularly the shark since the Catfish drops ballast in between the rails), etc - Equally realistic in ones or twos in a train or in a long rake - Despite being similar to the Dapol Dogfish, the latter is out of production now and Dapol have said it is uneconomic for them to assemble their current tooling the in current climate. Cons - Struggling to think of any......... (watch this space) - Possibly too similar to the Dapol Dogfish (see above) Best

Playstation Plus' free download this month? Well, well, it's Hitman: The Complete First Season. Now, just need to find time to try it. In other news, I managed to find a time slot to continue with RDR2. I've now faced off with Cornwalls lackies in Valentine, and effectively been driven out of town. We now find ourselves ensconced just outside Rhodes. It's a nice, pleasant camp with plenty fishing. Our story has taken a "A Fistful of Dollars" turn. Long way to go for me an m'mount, Binkie, a reckon.........

I came across this video on Youtube of up-to-date Toton. Some good views of stored EWS items, as well as a nice variety of modern trains. Some might find it interesting. Best Scott

Looking good. I superglued my sides but your soldered versions look better. What paint did you use for the body sides?

Many thanks. Best Scott

Ben and/or Mike, I know there is a lot of excitement around the Mk5 coach announcement, but I'm wondering if there is a loose timescale/plan associated with these Cemflos at all?

Phil, NLS also stitches the maps together: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17&lat=51.4870&lon=-0.6075&layers=168&b=1

A lot of outstanding images there, very very interesting. Thank you for sharing. Best Scott

I agree, it's a model of a hamlet/hillside, with a railway running through it. Outstanding.

Do we think that there might be a North British version produced without a name? I'd quite like an one of these to go with the (non-preserved) Caledonian 0-6-0 from Rails, but I'd rather have an un-named one of possible.......

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/141090-Hornby-new-tooling-terrier/

Good Lord. I simply can’t, I say, simply can’t face my poor Binky meeting such a horrid end!

My advice would be to set up a test plank with that incline to verify if your trains will negotiate it successfully. They might not.

Looking good Anthony. You'll have it covered in no time. Looking forward to seeing how it turned out!

Hi Mike, I think you've done the right thing. I've always felt that maybe you were trying to cram in too many cameos rather than envisaging a self contained layout. I think your latest (last?) approach is the best one, and it feels more 'right' than previous iterations. The only thing I'd question is length of the headshunt for the camping coach siding, it looks like you'd barely fit a coach and a loco in that. Is that right? I suppose it is if you're modelling the real station. Just looks a bit short. Anyway, that looks much better. Thanks for sharing. Best Scott

Anthony, It's so good to see you back and my apologies for not replying sooner. I hope you have had a good Christmas and New Year. It's unfortunate that you've been so busy away from the layout this year, but you seem to be encouraged by the prospect of having more time to devote to it in 2019. I'm very glad to see the new hill making technique has been successful and hopefully that will give you confidence to tackle the larger structures in a similar fashion. I'm looking forward to seeing the mountain/road project progressing. Please do keep us in the loop, so to speak! Best Scott

Today is the last day that the membership can pre-order their Hunslet DH 0-6-0 shunter at the reduced price. After today there will be no more orders taken until the models are in stock and the pre-orders have been satisfied. Best Scott https://www.ngsjoin.com/hunslet-industrial-shunter-pre-orde…